


Self-Harm

by h311agay



Series: Essays for School [13]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2014-04-01
Packaged: 2018-01-17 19:52:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1400410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h311agay/pseuds/h311agay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was a research project I had to do for English class. Please read with care!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Self-Harm

Self- injury, self-harm, self-mutilation, and self-inflicted violence; it comes under many different names, but each one refers to the act of someone intentionally hurting themselves. Self-mutilation is a serious problem that affects people of many ages, nationalities, religions, genders, and orientations. It does not focus on one select group and it does not differentiate. According to the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior, “the act of self-injury provides a way to manage intolerable feelings or a way to experience some sense of feeling” (Williams 14). Suicide and self-harm share similar traits but not every self-harmer is at a risk for suicide. Child psychiatrist, Sidhartha Hakim, reports, “deliberate self-harming is roughly 100 times more common than completed suicide in childhood and adolescence” (Williams 19). According to adolescent psychiatrist, Xavier Pommereau, “only 0.5% of self-harmers commit suicide” (Williams 20). Whether male or female, burning or cutting, harming or not harming, suicidal or not, self-mutilation is a serious problem.  
“With all the talk about it, cutting can almost seem like the latest fad. But cutting is a serious problem,” (Williams 21), says child and adolescent psychologist, D’Arcy Lyness, who is the behavioral health editor for KidsHealthWebsite. Even though schools have begun to talk about self-injury, very few people actually self-harm. Self-harm is a serious problem. It is not as common a behavior as society makes it out to be. However, according to Akron Beacon Journal, "Doctors and mental health experts are seeing a troubling rise in the number of teenagers who deliberately cut themselves to relieve emotional pain. It's difficult to determine how many teens cut, they say, because the behavior is hidden and a symptom of a mental health problem, rather than an independent diagnosis. But they agree that the practice has been increasing in the past few years." This means that self-harm is being turned to more and more. A person does not usually plan to cut themselves; it happens on impulse in a moment of distress. A person can quickly get addicted to the “high” of self-harm or even begin to admire what the injuries look like. Most people do not even intend to continue the behavior. “Self-harm gives a sense of control when other parts of life may not,” (Williams 24), states the National Children’s Bureau. Control is important for teenagers and when the feeling of losing control surfaces, it is hard to ask for help. Reaching out for assistance in ending self-harm is just as difficult. Teenagers do not always want to find their triggers; they do not always want to drop the habit. It becomes a part of them. Such a serious issue needs to be taken that way: seriously. Parents should not shoulder it off as a cry of attention and people definitely should not look at self-injury as a fad or a way to be cool. For people who have dropped the habit of cutting and/or other forms of hurting themselves, hearing someone brag about self-harm or say it is cool can be upsetting, offensive, and disrespectful. Just because self-harm is not a normal teenage behavior does not mean it is not a serious problem.  
Refusing to cut even when feeling the urge is just as serious a problem as the actual act of hurting one’s self. “Sitting with the urges to hurt myself… can be more excruciating than the self-injury itself,” (Williams 29), stated Alex Williams, a volunteer diagnosed with mental health problems. Most people believe there is no worse feeling than hurting one’s self. Others know that the inability to do so when they really want to is even worse. The need to hurt one’s self builds up and eats at them until they finally relent. Neglecting the urges can cause someone to neglect basic needs. “I found myself thinking about harming myself all the time and was frustrated that I could not do it as I had before. I became more depressed and even neglected myself when it came to washing and dressing,” (Williams 30). Someone who self-harms begins to see it as a part of their identity and society needs to recognize that even if someone is not self-harming, they still struggle with it. "It's an addiction," says nursing student, Julie. "Those urges dissipate over time, but they don't go away." Even when refraining from actual self-harm, the urges to do so can be just as harmful. “The mental torment does not end when that person resists using the blade,” (Williams 32).  
There has been no direct correlation proven between the act of self-harming and the contemplation of suicide. “The majority of children and adolescents who purposefully cut themselves do not have an immediate wish or intent to kill themselves”(Williams 33), says Betsy Bates, writer for Family Practice News [FPN]. Her quote clearly states that suicidal behavior in self-harmers is not common. The misconception of self-harm and suicide has been wrongly made. Michael Jellinek, M.D., chief of child psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston tells FPN, “[self-harm] may be an attempt by a severely disconnected and depressed teenager to gain focus and control” (Williams 34). Most children and adolescents harm themselves when they feel like their lives are spiraling out of control. Self-harm is a cry for help in many other cases. According to the National Self Harm Network, “self-injury often represents the prevention of a suicidal period” (Williams 35). “Cutting means different things to different people,” Jellinek says, “and… it’s profoundly misunderstood” (Williams 34). “Recognizing the cutting as a solution rather than as the whole problem is a critical first step” (Williams 37). Self-harm is an outward display of emotional and/or mental distress. Self-harm is often only temporary. Why would someone end it all when they are reaching out for help? There is no direct correlation between self-harm and suicide; there is only a connection if someone who is suicidal self-harms.  
The male part of society goes through just as much mental trauma, drama, and abuse as females so why should self-mutilation not be recognized as a problem for men as well? It’s not only females who get emotionally stressed to the point that they need to release it through self-harm. According to male self-harmer, Wedge, “I am male and… I have struggled with difficult things in life. I turned to [self-injury] to deal with my distress” (Williams 39). Wedge has always been very disbelieving when media would portray self-harm stereotypically as a female problem alone (Williams 39). In male culture, it is found unseemly and weak to show emotion. This needs to change because the bottling up of one’s emotions is something that can lead to self-mutilation. Another male self-injurer, Nick, said “as a man it was less socially accepted to talk about… negative feelings… so there was a need to find a different way to cope with them. This was self-injury” (Williams 39). Self-injury is also corrupted to mean a sign of weakness, which only promotes men to keep it as a secret. However, self-harm is not a form of weakness but instead a sign that one has tried to be strong for much too long. Online self-injury guidance and support network, LifeSIGNS, states that “self-injury is wrongly associated with women” (Williams 38). Not only is it girls who harm themselves, but as well as the male population. “It is worth noting that self-injury has the potential to affect all men, regardless of age, race, religion, sexuality, etc,” LifeSIGNS, “… self-injury… can affect people from all cultures and backgrounds” (Williams 41).  
Will the issue of self-mutilation continue to be taken as a child’s problem, as a girl’s problem? How long must self-harmers suffer with the wrong association that they wish to die? Eventually, society will have to realize the flaws in the way younger generations turn to self-harm not only as an escape but because they believe it is a way to be cool. Self-harm is a serious problem that affects all people of all ages. It needs to be looked closely at and treated with the care it deserves.

**Author's Note:**

> Work Cited:
> 
> Bates, Betsy. “’Cutting’ May Be More Widespread Than Imagined.” Family Practice News  
> vol. 35, no. 6. March 15, 2005, p.50.
> 
> Lazar, Kay. "The Urge to Injure." Boston Globe. 11 Mar. 2013: G.12. SIRS Issues  
> Researcher. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
> 
> LifeSIGNS, “Male Self Injury Taken Seriously,” www.lifesigns.org.uk/what/male.html  
> LifeSIGNS, www.selfharm.org.uk 
> 
> Lyness, D’Arcy. “Cutting.” www.teenshealth.org 1995-2007.  
> Self Mutilation: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed.  
> Williams, Mary E. Michigan: Green Haven  
> Press, 2008. Print
> 
> Spitz, Katherine. "Teens Cut Their Bodies As Way to Cope." Akron Beacon Journal  
> (Akron, OH). 16 Jul. 2003: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
> 
> Williams, Alex. “Worse than Self-Harm.” Community Care. Sept. 23, 2004, p. 22.


End file.
